Broken Pieces Fit Together
by khluv97
Summary: For JackTbug: Chris Thorndyke was orphaned and Cloud Strife lost his best friend/hero. Both are destroyed, but under the influence of Tifa, Chris is brought into the family. Cloud feels at first like Chris is supposed to replace Zack, and Chris feels like his parents are supposed to be replaced as well, but maybe what they need is completely different.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is for JackTbug. Enjoy :)**

Chapter 1: The Broken Child

The orange light cast across the court yard was enough to make anyone shudder as the huge house was ravaged by even bigger flames. A small child was gripping the bars of the front gate, shaking the gates and screaming. But despite his abusive motions, the gates would not open; they would not grant him access to his burning home.

"WHY?!" Chris Thorndyke screamed through his tears, "WHY NOW?!"

He referred to the rare occasion in which his parents were home, if the house had to burn, why couldn't it have happened while they were away like usual? Why did they have to be in the house when in caught fire? Why did a blue hedgehog have to drag Chris from the hungry flames? And why hadn't that same hedgehog run again from the flames with Chris' parents, safe and sound? This couldn't be coincidence, but what had Chris or his parents ever done to deserve this?

Out of the corner of his eye he saw something spiky, he turned so fast he nearly cracked his neck as he shouted desperately, "SONIC?!" But no, it was not the hedgehog, it was a man who was already half way over the tall fence. He had a scar on his cheek and his hair was sleeked back into spikes.

"Stand back kid!" He shouted as he landed on the other side and ran towards the burning house.

Zack Fair, SOLDIER Class 1, ran as hard as he could towards the burning house, Sephiroth's last attack had started the fire, and Zack considered it his job to save the civilians put in danger by Sephiroth's rampage. He charged into the burning building and the whole place was falling apart. Most of the ceiling had already collapsed, so Zack seriously doubted that anyone upstairs still could be. He ran into the foyer and found a dead animal, but didn't have enough time to stop and examine it much beyond it being too burnt to have possibly survived. A little further and he found the two bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Thorndyke. He hoisted them on his shoulders and carried them out into the yard just in time to see Cloud Strife almost to the house.

"Zack! What happened?!" Cloud asked as he quickly helped his elder lay the civilians in the grass.

"No time, I've got these two, go in and see if there's anyone else," Zack coughed from the smoke in his lungs and it came out in a puff. God, mako was amazing.

As Cloud ran into the house, Zack checked each of the Thorndykes for a pulse, the woman's was weak, but the man was dead. Zack tilted the woman's head to open her airway and then intertwined his fingers, one hand behind the other, and placed them on Mrs. Thorndyke's chest. He then threw his weight into her chest and felt her ribs break. He winced as the terrible feeling but did it again, and again, and again. He counted 30 presses then moved to her mouth, he held her chin to keep her mouth open and her forehead to keep her airway clear as he breathed deeply into her lungs. He kept it up in this pattern for nearly 20 minutes, but she still wasn't breathing and her heart had long since stopped beating under his fingers.

Zack sat back on his heels and hung his head as he caught his breath. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." He muttered between breaths. He had been too late, all the heroic strength in the world couldn't revive the dead, and because of his original failure to see the corruption in his elder's heart, he had brought this death down on the Thorndykes and countless others. At least, that's how he felt.

"Cloud," Zack stood, "Come on, it's time we end this." And so Zack, followed by Cloud, went to his death.

 **A/N: Well there is the start. Hope it peaked your interest, this was all just set up to how Chris has become an orphan and how Cloud becomes the man he does. If you don't know how Zack died, play the game or look it up, it's really not relevant to the story besides placing in the timeline of Final Fantasy, so I didn't feel the need to go into trying to rewrite that scene. But you may watch the cutscene of his death as I do intend to have some dreams and flashbacks to it on Cloud's part. Oh, and the following is not really going to stick to FFVII, it will take it's own path mostly. DISCLAIMER: I do not own Cloud, Zack, or Chris :) Thanks**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey Gang, so anyone following my posts, I will try to post every weekend but I do work all week so I can't usually write except on Saturdays. Disclaimer, don't own anything or I'd be rich and wouldn't be writing fanfics on a free site lol. Enjoy... well this is a sad chapter so you won't... but bear with the pain for the light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks :)**

Chris watched in terror as Zack ran into the house, minutes later a blond jumped the fence and ran to the house just as warm arms wrapped around Chris' form and pulled him gently from the fence. A tall girl with black hair and gentle brown eyes was guiding him away from his burning home, saying something that Chris supposed was supposed to be comforting but he wasn't really hearing a word of it. After they had stopped moving, he burst into tears again and found himself compressed in a hug in the girl's lap as she rocked him gently back and forth and stroked his hair.

It took a good half hour before Chris calmed down enough to take in his surroundings, he looked up at the girl who was smiling gently but her eyes held much sadness.

"Wh-what happened?" Chris said as he looked around for his parents. It was painful to move his neck after having it bent for so long and his eyes burned from the long exposure to his salty tears.

"I... I'm really sorry sweetie... Zack did all he could... but... but..." The girl trailed off and wouldn't meet his eyes.

Chris jumped up, frantic and a little angry now, "But what?! Where are my mom and dad?!" He demanded.

"I'm so sorry," She said softly, holding his small hands and trying to calm him down, "Your parents didn't make it."

That was it. Chris' world fell apart. He stepped back, his mouth opening and closing but no words were coming out. Then he shook his head and ran. He ran as hard and fast as he could, but after just a few minutes of running, he tripped and fell face down on the ground. He just laid there and sobbed with all of his anger and fear and passion and mourning rolled into one. Each tear that fell and soaked into the earth was like a piece of his heart, leaking out until there was nothing but a lonely and empty feeling left inside him.

The girl had never been far behind, and she simply stood back and watched him cry on the ground, she figured he could use a few minutes to just let it all out without feeling the pressures of being watched; so she left him alone just far enough she could still ensure his safety.

Once Chris had cried all the tears he could muster, he slowly got up, his head still hanging low. He looked around through bloodshot eyes until he saw the woman in the distance; he then promptly turned away and started to trudge off by himself. He didn't want that woman, she was the one who ripped the rug out from under his feet, and even though deep down Chris knew it wasn't her fault, he still resented her for it.

But it was no use, he soon heard the sounds of boots hitting grass at a fast pace and then he was swept up.

"Sorry, kid," She sighed, "But I can't let you wander off with Sephiroth destroying the city."

 _Sephiroth_ Chris thought. He knew that name. Sephiroth was a hero, but he was destroying the city? _He must have caused the fire. He's the reason this happened. I thought SOLDIER was supposed to protect us?! But I guess no one can really be trusted to do that._

Chris was lost in thought as he was carried to the nearby hospital, he was set down in a chair in the waiting room and the woman knelt down to look him in the eyes. "What's your name, kid?"

"Chris," He answered shortly, glaring slightly at her.

"Okay, Chris, I'm Tifa. I'm going to do my best to help you right now, ok? We need to make sure you weren't burned or hurt, so I've brought you to the doctor's. They are going to look you over and help you, but you need to cooperate. In a little while I expect that some people will be here to talk to you about what happened. You need to cooperate with them too, alright?" She had a very serious look on her face, yet her tone was still gentle and she spoke slowly, as though she knew how hard it was for Chris to perceive what she was saying. Then she kissed his forehead and gave him a sad look, but it wasn't like pity, it was as though she understood what he was going through and was feeling the same thing he was at that moment.

Chris nodded as the doctor came and escorted Chris to the examination room, where he was checked over and questioned. The doctor then took him to a hospital room and laid him in bed, where he quickly fell asleep, exhausted from everything that had happened that day.

 **Poor Chris... for anyone who doesn't know this is about the same time that Tifa lost her father as well. I'll try to post soon, but no longer than next week for sure! Hope everyone likes it!**


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